Ruhleben (Station)

Ruhleben U-Bahn StationEnd of the line

Ruhleben is the western terminus of Berlin's U-Bahn line
U2 and is located in the borough of
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, close to the border with
Spandau.
It is located pretty much "in the middle of nowhere", and its only real use is as an interchange
station for bus links to the centre of Spandau.

Convenient for

The Spandau branch of IKEA (a couple of bus stops further on).

Fare Zone

Ruhleben is in VBB fare zone B.

History

Ruhleben was opened on December 22, 1929 as the provisional terminus of line A (the current U2).
It is located in a less-densely built-up area of Berlin and is constructed above ground on an embankment.
Berlin's U-Bahn plans have always envisaged an extension of this line as far as the centre of Spandau -
the above-ground route is largely secured, and Rathaus Spandau
was even constructed with an additional platform - but it is unlikely it will ever be realized.
Although the Ruhleben route would the shortest and easiest way of reaching Spandau, political
interests meant priority was given to the current U7 route, opened in 1984,
even though this is more circuitous and built entirely in tunnels. The main reason for this was
to provide an alternative to the GDR-run S-Bahn had been transferred to the BVG). It is also
rumoured that the heavily-subsidised West Berlin construction industry had a vested interest in
seeing the construction-intensive U7 being built first.

Following the opening of the U7, Ruhleben's role as an interchange for Spandau-bound passengers
declined, and with the reconstruction of the Spandau S-Bahn route in the 1990s, usage has
fallen even further, and around half of all trains on the U2 now terminate at
Theodor-Heuss-Platz
(ironically the U7 has been similarly affected). With the line between Ruhleben and
Olympia-Stadion requiring refurbishment, the BVG has even
considered withdrawing services completely, although no date has been set and it is not certain
this will happen.